Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRCL) will issue detailed tenders for Metro Line 3 by July 2014 and award the contract to the successful bidder by October 2014. The construction on this underground metro corridor, which will cost over Rs 23,000 crore, is likely to commence from January 2015.

The 32.5 kilometre long metro corridor will start from Colaba in south Mumbai and go till SEEPZ in the north, through Bandra.

There are 14 international and domestic firms that have already shown interest in construction of Mumbai’s first underground metro project in the pre-qualification round that ended on March 10, 2014.

MMRCL has already tied up the funding for this project from Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) last year, and Government of India and Government of Maharashtra through MMRDA will also be sharing the project cost.

“JICA is funding 57% of the total project cost of Rs 23,136 crore, while government of India and government of Maharashtra-through MMRDA will bear the rest of the cost. Central government will provide 50% of central taxes as sub-debt while the balance 50% shall be borne by the state government,” Sanjay Sethi, managing director, MMRCL and additional metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said in a statement on Friday. HE added that the state government may also get a few exemptions from various local taxes – details of which were being worked out. Also, Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), will bear Rs 777 crore of the project, since the metro will pass through MIAL areas.

The Metro-3 corridor is expected to carry 13.9 lakh commuters daily in the year 2021, which is expected to increase to 17 lakh daily commuters in the year 2031.

The Colaba-Seepz metro will comprise of 27 stations; out of which 26 will be underground and one at Aarey Colony, Goregaon, towards the north of the city will be at ground level. Underground construction will be at a depth of 15 to 25 meters on an average. The construction of 32.5 km Metro will be carried out in 7 packages at 14 different locations.

The 14 firms that have shown interest in the project include a joint venture of Indian engineering major Larsen and Toubro (L&T) and China-based STEC, Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) along with Russian firm Mosmetrostroy, Chinese firm China Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group Co. Ltd (CTCEG) along with PIIPL, Indian firm AFCONS Infrastructure along with foreign company KMB, Taiwanese Continental Engineering Corp (CEC) along with Indian company ITD Cementation